In celebration of One Direction’s release of their new song, Steal My Girl, I thought I would share how to make your own 1D concert T-shirt. I love going to concerts and we always make some kind of fun T-Shirt to celebrate the occasion. (click HERE and HERE for Taylor Swift Concert T-shirt ideas) A few weeks ago One Direction was playing at the Rose Bowl so my husband and I took our 6 year old daughter. To quote her, “This is my dream come true!”

Then the following night I took some cute girls (so their moms wouldn’t have to go) and we rocked out! Yes – I am officially a One Direction Groupie!

Begin by printing a heart and 1D logo in reverse onto the EZ Print Lite sheets. These sheets are great because you can run them through your printer and not have to draw the pattern. I created the heart in MS Word and googled the 1D logo – easy peasy! Once you print the images, roughly cut out the heart about 1/4″ away from the heart. Press the heart to the wrong side of the red fabric. Do the same with the 1D. Cut out the heart and 1D on the pattern lines.

Next peel off the backing on the 1D and press onto the heart. Leave the backing on the heart for now.

I thought it would be easier to sew the 1D and then iron the heart onto the T-shirt – it’s hard to maneuver a T-shirt in a sewing machine – especially a small, child’s t-shirt. Sew around the 1D in black thread.

This is how the back should look:

Now, peel off the backing paper on the heart. It may take a little time to peel off all the paper in-between the letters. Now, press the 1D heart onto the black T-shirt. Sew around the heart twice in black thread.

I love to personalize my concert T-shirts with the date of the concert. I cut out the words on my cricut in vinyl. Then I removed the letters to leave a “stencil”. I put the vinyl stencil on the T-shirt and using a stencil brush and craft paint I stenciled the letters. Let the paint dry completely then remove the vinyl. It looks pretty good!!

Welcome to the Jedi Craft Girl Blog! I’m Amanda and this is my submission for the Sew-Vivor Sewing Competition over at Family Ever After. Thanks Rach H for putting so much time and personality into this fun online sewing competition!! I have been quilting for 16 years and I love quilts in any shape and size . I couldn’t decide on a quilt to enter so I thought a quilted pillow would be fun and mix things up in the competition. Meet my Modern Pumpkin Throw Pillow. This is an original design. October is a super busy time of year, so to get my fall quilting fix I came up with this 18″ 18″ pillow. I love it because it has my 2 favorite colors, it involves half square triangle piecing, and uses machine appliqué.

I love the tightly quilted meanders in the background and the black “loop de loo” accents on the pumpkins…..loop de loo is a real word, right?

I had some fun with the back by adding an appliqué spider below the zipper.

I can’t believe fall is just around the corner – yikes!!! Thanks so much for stopping by – this is such a fun competition!!!

Isn’t this the cutest fabric? It’s from the True Blue fabric line by Blend. Everyeday this week I will be featuring a project using fabrics from this fabric line – all with a whale theme!!

I totally LOVE whales and I have loved them since I was like 4 years old 🙂 I thought this pillow was super fun and I love the colors! My tutorial is over at the Therm O Web blog – so hop over there if you want the instructions to make your own!!

When I came home from our Young Women’s Camp (which I was the director of) I literally hit a wall and wend into hiding. I was completely exhausted spiritually and physically. I turned 40 that next week. My children were all away at my parents. My good friend and her family moved away. I think I had some kind of break down or something. It was the hardest week of my life!!!! I am writing to say I am getting back to my usual self – but it’s been hard. Has anyone else freaked out when they turned 40? I really didn’t see it coming!!

Here is a little recap….

My friend invited my husband and I to the Kenny Loggins concert on my birthday. It was super fun and we got to meet Kenny afterwards. It was a good place to turn 40 – I was the youngest person there!!!

My friend and her family moving away from Southern California to Utah – not a good day at all.

I finally made it up to my parents house to for a family reunion. They surprised me with another birthday party. 40 – really?

We had fun at the beach:

Lots of swimming!

Peach Picking

and fun dinners!!

I hope everyone is having a great summer. Summer is my favorite for sure!! It’s good to be back 🙂

Do the men in your life LOVE bacon? The ones in my life do 🙂 Bacon themed items are super popular and what I love most about the bacon trend is Jim Gaffigan’s comedy bit about bacon – if you haven’t heard it -click HERE … you will laugh so hard!! This week at Jedi Craft Girl has been all about the fabric line Ribs & Bibs and Father’s Day. I love this zipper pouch because it is “manly”. I used a light weight black denim on the outside, a chunky metal zipper, and the taupe utensil fabric on the inside. I used white house paint to stencil the word “Bacon” on the bag. Therm o Web fusible stabilizer gives the bag more stability. This zipper pouch is my new FAVORITE!!!

Begin by preparing the stencil I used some extra vinyl I had laying around (that’s why it’s pink) and ran it through my Cricut. I used the font “Playbill”, weed the letters to leave the outline.

Using a masking strip to adhere the stencil, place the Bacon word on the center of the denim piece.

Using a stencil brush, stencil with white paint. I literally used the trim paint from my house.Let it dry then peel off the stencil. I love how it turned out!

Here are the pieces you should have cut 8″ x 11″

Iron the interfacing to the wrong side of both the lining pieces and both the outer bag pieces – 4 total. Iron a piece of Heat n Bond to the wrong side of the pig fabric. I liked the red pig the best. Cut out around the pig leaving a little white boarder. Stitch around the pig in white thread. Press the front of the bag, heat setting the painted letters.

Now you are ready to construct the bag. Follow this tutorial here.A word of advice if you are using a chunky metal zipper…..It was my goal to not break my needle. I was super careful to hand move the needle when near the zipper – that way the needle can find it’s way around the zipper teeth. I thought I was in the clear and then resumed with the pedal and snap – the needle broke – darn! I bet you can do it without breaking the needle 🙂

I just love this project to pieces! I might need one for myself – my kids all want one too!!

I know the claim “The Perfect Potholder” is pretty bold!! I am a bit of a potholder snob. I can’t stand silicone ones, I don’t like them if they are too stiff or puffy, I also don’t like them if they are too thin. I love the cute quilty ones, but I am always afraid to use them. So I resort to my trusty terrycloth potholders…..behold:

Aren’t they beautiful! haha!! They’ve been used and washed at least a million times and I can never give them up…..until TODAY when I came up with a homemade version that is just as functional yet much more stylish. The trick is that I cut up a hand towel (or bath towel), layered with batting and quilted it. Are you ready for the tutorial? Here we go:

Supplies:

1 bath or hand towel (not kitchen) the thicker the better!

Fat Quarter Bibs and Ribs fabric – still loving it!!

Scraps of cotton batting

fabric for the binding

Therm O Web Spray n Bond

Begin by cutting the towel 8.5″ square

also cut the batting and fabric the same size, 8.5″ square.

Use the basting spray to baste all the lawyer together with the batting in the middle.

Quilt as desired. I made 4 of these and did vertical lines, diagonal lines and then criss cross. Using a cup, draw a rounded corner on each of the corners and trim along the line.

Cut the binding on the bias 2.5″ x WOF, or enough to sew around the potholder. Sew the binding to the back of the potholder then pull the binding around and machine sew the top of the binding down.

Seriously, tears of joy were shed over this project. I cannot contain my excitement!! It actually feels just like my old trusty potholders – YIPPEE!!!

Now that I knew they were a success, I got a little creative. Try rounding all the corners but the top left corner like this:

Then sew the binding like this:

Take the little tail and give it a twirl to make a loop to hang or to just be decorative or to just finish the binding nicely.

Thanks for stopping by! I am entering this quilt in the Spring Bloggers Quilt Festival over at Amy’s Creative Side. I recently created this quilt called “Bunny Bricks” and it’s one of my favorite. I just can’t get enough of those appliqué bunnies!

The quilt measures 38″ x 54″. The fabric I adore – It’s called Grace from Anna Griffin. I machine appliquéd the bunnies and machine quilted the quilt.

I have it hanging in my family room. I made it for Easter, but I can’t part with it just yet!!

Hi! I’m Sheena Perron from Little LDS Ideas. I am so excited to be here today and to be a part of Amanda’s ’14 Day Walk with Christ.’ I am so grateful for this opportunity and hope that my lesson/activity can help you and your family remember Christ this Easter. Thanks so much Amanda!

In Elder Andersen’s article he talked about spiritual tornadoes and shared an experience of an actual tornado (he just shared this same experience during this General Conference).

He talked about spiritual tornadoes and that we need to be built on a sure foundation if we are going to withstand these spiritual tornadoes. I knew my kiddos would love a lesson on ‘tornadoes’ so I got to work and this is what I came up with!

“A few years ago we were in Tampa, Florida, to spend some time with our family. During our time there, a powerful and potent tornado touched down. While hurricanes are common to Florida, tornadoes are not. This tornado came ripping through Haines City, about 50 miles away from where we were, leaving destruction in its path.

I read one experience of a woman in her mobile home. As she heard the winds approaching, she went into her bathroom and crouched down on the floor hoping to avoid injury. She felt her trailer shake, she was jostled around, and then everything was quiet. As she crouched motionless in her bathroom, she heard the voice of her neighbor who lived approximately 50 yards away from her. The voice said, “I am here in the front room.”

She thought somehow her neighbor had come into her trailer and was looking for her. She soon, however, was very surprised to find that was not the case at all, but that the winds had lifted, carried, and landed her trailer upright on the top of her neighbor’s trailer. She had not realized it, but her trailer had been flying through the air. Her neighbor was actually below her, in the neighbor’s own mobile home.”

Elder Andersen continues by saying: “When we built our house, it was interesting to see all the efforts made to securely hold the house in place. First a giant hole is dug, and the footers for thefoundationare placed deep…into the ground. Steel rods run through the yards and yards of cement that form thefoundation. With each adjoining part of the house, metal and steel is used to ensure that each part of the house is attached firmly to the other, and that all is tied securely into thefoundationand footers. Every effort is made so that the house may remain stationary should winds or tornadoes come upon us.”

Elder Andersen talks about building a house on a strong foundation.

By digging and placing cement and rods that house will be built on a sure foundation. A sure foundation will support anything that rests upon it.

Why is it important to have a strong/sure foundation?

Do you know the song ‘The Wise Man and The Foolish Man’?

Where did the foolish man build his house? {on the sand}

And what happened to his house when the rains and floods came? {it washed away}

Where did the wise man build his house? {on the rock}

And what happened to his house when the rains and floods came?

Just like a house we must be sure to build our lives upon a sure foundation.

What do you think it means to build our lives upon a sure foundation?

Display a picture of Christ and read: Helaman 5:12

The prophet Helaman said, “It is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, … yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you … , because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall”

Our Savior, Jesus Christ, is the only sure foundation upon whom we can build our lives.

Tonight we’re going to discuss some ways that we can build our lives upon the Sure Foundation, Jesus Christ.

Activity:

For this activity you will need:

·An empty plastic bottle {water bottle, 2 liter bottle, etc.}

·Something to fill the bottle: beans, rice, water, etc.

·6 small containers or bowls

·Labels for each container with a way we can build upon a sure foundation. You could use scripture references, phrases, or pictures.

Before your lesson get your 6 containers and fill each one with beans, rice or water. Label each container with a scripture reference, phrase, or picture. Here are the 6 things I am using and discussing with our family:

·Study the Scriptures

·Pray Always

·Attend Church

·Keep the Commandments

·Follow the Prophet

·Love & Serve the Lord

As you talk about each way we can build upon a Sure Foundation, you will add a little bit to your empty bottle. After you have discussed all the ways your bottle will be full.

Get Started! Get your empty plastic bottle and place it on the table. Gently push it so that it knocks over. Tell your children that the bottle represents each of us. Right now the bottle isn’t filled with anything, it’s not ‘built’ on a firm foundation. Just like the home in the story that wasn’t built on a firm foundation and was tossed around in the tornado. If we are not build upon a firm foundation we may be knocked over and give in to temptation.

We are going to discuss 6 things that will ‘fill’ us up and help us be built on a firm foundation.

Have a member in your family pick one of the containers. If you have chosen to place a scripture on the container then have them read it aloud and then discuss why that is important. Then add the contents of that container to your bottle.

Move on to the next container.

At the end of the lesson, try to gently push the bottle over again.

As we build our lives upon the Sure Foundation, Jesus Christ, we will be able to withstand the storms of life. As we live our lives righteously it will be easier to make correct choices…we will be able to stand tall and not ‘fall over’.

Bottle Bowling

Fun Activity: I thought it would be fun to do some ‘Bottle Bowling’ with the family. Use 10 empty bottles as the pins and take turns trying to get a strike!

You could even make a competition out of it.

Split the family into 2 teams. Have one person bowl. Then ask them a question that has to do with the lesson. If they get it correct they are awarded the number of pins they knocked down as points. If they answer incorrectly they receive no points.

At the end of the game the team with the most points WINS!

Journal Time: If your children write in a journal have them think about what they can do to build on a sure foundation. Encourage them to make a goal and write it down. Maybe they would like to read their scriptures every night this month, or attend church every week for 3 months and think about Jesus during the sacrament. If they’d like have them share their goals with the family during the next Family Home Evening. Then have them report how they do.

Handout

To help you and your family remember what they can do to build upon the sure foundation of Jesus Christ, I have created these great little bookmark handouts.

I have listed the 6 ways shared in my lesson as well as a scripture at the bottom. Place the bookmark in your scriptures, your journal, or place it in your room somewhere you will see it often.